LIVE
BE
Bloom Energy Corporation · Industrials
$328.91
+25.86% this month
VERSUS
⟷
COMPARE
PLUG
Plug Power Inc. · Industrials
$2.85
-13.90% this month
Scoreboard verdict
Across AI score, momentum, valuation, upside, operating margin
BE
2
PLUG
2
Comparison scoreboard
MIXED SETUPAI Score
BE ✓61.6
PLUG 36.3
1Y Return
BE ✓+1429.81%
PLUG +150.00%
Fwd P/E
BE 75.66
PLUG ✓-17.35
Target Up.
BE -19.84%
PLUG ✓+26.86%
Op. Margin
BE N/A
PLUG N/A
Metrics last refreshed: 6/20/2026
Quick take
BE vs PLUG Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Bloom Energy and Plug Power are both fuel cell companies but in dramatically different financial health. Bloom is a commercially viable business generating revenue from data center and commercial fuel cell installations. Plug Power is in financial distress — deeply negative gross margins, massive capital consumption, and execution failures create existential risk. The two are not equivalent investment propositions.
BE vs PLUG is the commercially deployed solid oxide fuel cell company providing data centers and commercial facilities with reliable distributed power on a path to profitability (Bloom Energy) versus the financially distressed PEM fuel cell and hydrogen company burning through capital with negative gross margins attempting to build a green hydrogen ecosystem (Plug Power) — viable commercial fuel cell business vs high-risk hydrogen speculation.
Live analysis · updated 6/20/2026
BE and PLUG are closely matched — they split the tracked metrics evenly. BE has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+1429.81% vs +150.00%), though PLUG trades at the lower forward P/E (-17.35x vs 75.66x). Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for PLUG (+26.86%) than for BE (-19.84%).
Normalized 1Y performance
BE
PLUG
Recent returns
BE
PLUG
Analyst price targets & sentiment
BE · 25 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (2.3/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$55.00
analyst high$335.00
analyst mean$263.65
current price$328.91
-19.8% upside to analyst mean
PLUG · 16 analysts
Price target range
analyst low$0.75
analyst high$7.00
analyst mean$3.62
current price$2.85
+26.9% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
BE may suit investors who:
- →prefer the commercially viable fuel cell company with data center power contracts, existing commercial industrial customer base, and a plausible path to profitability
- →value Bloom's near-term practical value proposition — natural gas fuel cells delivering lower-carbon distributed power today without requiring hydrogen infrastructure
- →want clean energy hardware exposure to the AI data center reliable power demand with a company that has actual revenue and improving margins
- →are comfortable with Bloom's profitability being still in development, lumpy data center contract timing, and hydrogen transition timeline being longer than initially projected
PLUG may suit only the most speculative investors who:
- →understand Plug Power's financial distress — deeply negative gross margins, billions of capital consumed, and continued capital raise requirements create high probability of dilution or restructuring
- →believe the green hydrogen economy will materialize at scale within 5 years and Plug's first-mover position in forklifts and electrolyzers will be vindicated
- →are comfortable with a binary investment where either Plug successfully navigates to hydrogen economy viability or the company faces restructuring
- →never invest more than a very small speculative position given the existential financial risk
Performance & AI score
| Metric | BE | PLUG |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 61.6 | 36.3 |
| AI rank | #134 | #1516 |
| Latest close | $328.91 | $2.85 |
| 1M return | +25.86% | -13.90% |
| 6M return | +327.32% | +31.94% |
| 1Y return | +1429.81% | +150.00% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | BE | PLUG |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $152.98K (+1429.8%) started 2025-06-18 | $25K (+150.0%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $133.43K (+1234.3%) started 2021-06-18 | $977.03 (-90.2%) started 2021-06-18 |
| 10Y ago | $131.56K (+1215.6%) started 2018-07-25 | $15.83K (+58.3%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | BE | PLUG |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $93.56B | $3.98B |
| Trailing P/E | N/A | N/A |
| Forward P/E | 75.66 | -17.35 |
| Price/Sales | 38.20 | 5.37 |
| EV/Revenue | 32.82 | 6.19 |
| Analyst target | $263.65 | $3.62 |
| Target upside | -19.84% | +26.86% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | BE | PLUG |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 130.40% | 22.30% |
| Earnings growth | N/A | N/A |
| EPS growth | N/A | N/A |
| FCF margin | +10.84% | -55.07% |
| Operating margin | N/A | N/A |
| Profit margin | 0.25% | -227.13% |
| ROIC proxy | 1.29% | -128.79% |
| Return on equity | 1.29% | -128.79% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Beta | 3.75 | 2.12 |
| Debt/equity | 311.48 | 130.53 |
| Current ratio | 5.03 | 2.36 |
| Quick ratio | 3.98 | 0.90 |
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
BE max drawdown45.94%
PLUG max drawdown56.66%
BE max wkly drop26.41%
PLUG max wkly drop30.40%
5Y risk snapshot
BE max drawdown75.87%
PLUG max drawdown98.43%
BE max wkly drop40.25%
PLUG max wkly drop46.68%
10Y risk snapshot
BE max drawdown92.54%
PLUG max drawdown99.04%
BE max wkly drop59.87%
PLUG max wkly drop46.68%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | BE | PLUG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +1429.81% | +150.00% |
| CAGR | +1432.67% | +150.16% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 3.03 | 1.32 | |
| Max drawdown | 45.94% | 56.66% | |
| Max daily drop | 18.28% | 11.21% | |
| Max wkly drop | 26.41% | 30.40% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +1234.32% | -90.23% |
| CAGR | +67.91% | -37.20% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.96 | -0.08 | |
| Max drawdown | 75.87% | 98.43% | |
| Max daily drop | 24.79% | 40.47% | |
| Max wkly drop | 40.25% | 46.68% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +1215.64% | +58.33% |
| CAGR | +38.58% | +4.71% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.76 | 0.43 | |
| Max drawdown | 92.54% | 99.04% | |
| Max daily drop | 42.50% | 40.47% | |
| Max wkly drop | 59.87% | 46.68% |
Business comparison
| Category | BE | PLUG |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Bloom Energy Corporation | Plug Power Inc. |
| Sector | Industrials | Industrials |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | Bloom Energy manufactures solid oxide fuel cells (Energy Servers) that generate on-site electricity from natural gas, hydrogen, or biogas. Bloom's fuel cells are installed at commercial and industrial facilities as distributed generation assets — providing reliable, lower-carbon electricity without grid dependency. Bloom has won data center contracts as customers seek reliable on-site power during grid constraints. Bloom's ability to run on natural gas today while being capable of transitioning to hydrogen makes it a practical near-term clean energy solution. | Plug Power is a fuel cell and hydrogen company focused primarily on proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for forklifts, heavy-duty vehicles, and hydrogen production through electrolyzers. Plug's GenDrive fuel cells power 50,000+ forklifts in Amazon, Walmart, and other major warehouse operations — replacing lead-acid batteries. Plug is building a green hydrogen production network and selling hydrogen as a fuel. Plug has been expanding into hydrogen hubs with green hydrogen production sites, but has faced severe execution and financial challenges. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Energy Server installations and backlog, data center sales pipeline, gross margin improvement, and hydrogen-ready product adoption. | Investors track hydrogen production volumes, electrolyzer sales, gross margin recovery from deeply negative levels, and whether Plug can achieve financial stability given its burn rate. |
BE strengths
- →Practical near-term clean energy: Bloom's fuel cells run on natural gas with lower emissions than grid power today, transitioning to hydrogen as supply develops — a bridge solution without waiting for hydrogen infrastructure
- →Data center power solution: Bloom's on-site fuel cells provide AI data centers with reliable distributed power generation complementing unreliable grid power
- →Solid oxide technology efficiency: Bloom's technology achieves 65% efficiency in electricity generation — significantly higher than combustion alternatives
PLUG strengths
- →Forklift fuel cell installed base: Plug's 50,000+ GenDrive forklifts at Amazon and Walmart create a large, established customer base with recurring hydrogen fuel sales
- →Electrolyzer business: Plug's green hydrogen electrolyzers are early-stage but position Plug for the hydrogen economy infrastructure build-out
- →Government support: Plug's hydrogen hubs received DOE Hydrogen Hubs program support — government funding reducing private capital risk for green hydrogen projects
Risks to watch — BE
- →Bloom has been unprofitable for most of its existence — achieving consistent profitability at scale requires continued execution on manufacturing cost reductions
- →Data center contracts are large but lumpy — pipeline conversion timing is difficult to predict creating revenue timing volatility
- →Hydrogen fuel supply infrastructure remains underdeveloped — Bloom's hydrogen capability depends on hydrogen becoming commercially available, which is still years away at scale
Risks to watch — PLUG
- →Plug Power's financial situation is critical — the company has consumed billions in capital with deeply negative gross margins and requires continued capital raises to fund operations
- →Hydrogen production cost remains far above natural gas: green hydrogen at $5–10/kg vs natural gas hydrogen at $1–2/kg makes economics unattractive without substantial carbon price or policy support
- →Execution has been consistently disappointing — Plug has missed guidance, delayed projects, and raised capital repeatedly while posting large losses
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